Media literacy research and engagement initiatives address societal challenges

October 29, 2025 Faculty and graduate students across the College of Media are pursuing a range of activities aimed at understanding challenges to media literacy and developing interventions to improve it. Recent activities include: A team including Michelle Nelson, professor of advertising, Amanda Ciafone, associate professor of media and cinema studies, Stephanie Craft, professor of […]

College of Media welcomes Fall 2025 with faculty promotions and leadership appointments

August 19, 2025 This fall, the College of Media announces two new department heads, seven faculty promotions, and one new faculty member. In the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, Sang-Hwa Oh has been promoted to associate professor with indefinite tenure. Carrie Wilson-Brown has been promoted to senior lecturer. Penne Heede joins the department as […]

Amanda Ciafone lends Coca-Cola expertise to new TV series ‘A History of the World in Six Glasses’

February 9, 2024 | Holly Rushakoff From a corner table in the Coca-Cola-branded brick building of Flesor’s Candy Kitchen (est. 1901) in Tuscola, Illinois—with a nostalgic Coca-Cola straw canister positioned nearby—Amanda Ciafone, associate professor of media and cinema studies, shared stories about Coca-Cola’s origins with producers of the new TV series A History of the […]

Mark L. Brandt Public Engagement Fellows program funds eight fall projects in the College of Media

October 4, 2022 | Holly Rushakoff Eight projects led by College of Media faculty and staff have been selected to receive funding as part of the Mark L. Brandt Public Engagement Fellows program, established this year to provide undergraduate Media students with professional experience in public engagement activities. It also provides opportunities for students to participate […]

Helping Students Be Wise Consumers of Media

August 5, 2022 | Tom Hanlon (College of Education) with Holly Rushakoff (College of Media) Twenty-one Illinois public school educators learned how to incorporate media literacy into their curricula this summer through an IMEDIA media literacy workshop on campus, hosted by faculty from the College of Media and College of Education. “Media literacy is especially […]

College of Education and College of Media team up to help Illinois high schoolers understand the media they consume

February 3, 2022 | Tom Hanlon (College of Education) and Holly Rushakoff (College of Media) A new state law is requiring Illinois public high schools to teach media literacy. Through IMEDIA, the College of Education and the College of Media are helping teachers prepare to do just that. When Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill […]

Ciafone receives Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

May 5, 2021 The Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching recognizes sustained excellence and innovative approaches in undergraduate teaching and contributions beyond classroom instruction that have an overall positive impact on undergraduate student learning. Amanda Ciafone, associate professor of media and cinema studies, was one of this year’s recipients. Ciafone honed her classroom skills teaching […]

College of Media
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